Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hello, everyone!  Today marks the start of the Fall Coffee Lovers' Blog Hop! I've participated in all the Coffee Lovers' Blog Hops and they are so much fun!  I hope you can join us!  Just link up a newly created fall-themed project that focuses on coffee, tea, or cocoa. The linky is open now until 11:59 p.m. Pacific on Friday, October 2. Hope to see you there! And remember... it's a blog hop, so commenting is encouraged and greatly appreciated! 

I won this adorable stamp set in the Summer Coffee Lovers' Blog Hop from super sponsor Your Next Stamp (thank you, Karen!).  It's called Sprinkles - Coffee and Tea. 

I coloured the image with watercolour markers and added a design on the coffee cup with a white gel pen. I used the coordinating die for this image so I could pop it up with foam tape. The sentiment is from the same stamp set.  

The coffee bean background was created on kraft cardstock using a stencil and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. The patterned paper strips are from Doodlebug and Echo Park, and I added a few sequins from Jillibean Soup and some Impression Obsession Oak Leaf die-cuts. I rounded the upper-righthand corner.

I would also like to join the following challenges: Beccy's Place September AG UE; Cards in Envy Colours of Fall 3/3; Choux Choux Paper Art Halloween or Fall UE;  Craftin' Desert Divas Favourite Colour Combo (orange and brown for fall cards) UE; Crafting from the Heart AG 3/3; Crafty Girls Creations AG 2/3; Creative Card Crew Fall 3/3; Creative Fingers AG 1/3; Creative Inspirations Something Sweet UE; Deep Ocean Autumn UE; Dies R Us Hot Colours 2/3; DL.ART Thankful Thursday Fall Alt. Thank You 2/3; DL.ART September Linky AG 1/day; Fan-Tastic Tuesday Colour me Autumn 3/4; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Not Just Cards AG UE; One Crazy Stamper Christmas Halloween Fall 3/5; One Stitch at a Time Leaves UE; Our Crafty Corner Fall Colours 3/3; Pile it On Fall Colour Combo UE; Quick Creations Fall/Autumn (Distress Inks available at Quick Creations) UE; Scrapbook Blessings Club AG optional Favourite Technique (colouring with markers, creating own background) UE; Simon Says Stamp Monday STAMPtember Use a Stamp and Blog Hop 1/5; Simon Says Stamp Work-it Wednesday Use a Stamp 1/3; Sweet Stamps AG UE; The Outlawz Twisted Thursday AG 1/2 (TOP PICK); The Paper Girls Sweater Weather (fall) 2/3; Unruly Paper Arts Coffee and Cream 1/3; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 3/5; Your Next Stamp Colour Inspiration 1/3 (TOP 3)

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Top 3

Fall Watercolour Set

Hi, everyone!  Today I'm sharing a set of 3 fall cards I made using a beautiful image from Beccy's Place - Garden Silhouette Set.

Watercolour backgrounds are tricky with digis because I have an inkjet printer, and as soon as the ink gets wet, it bleeds. So I created the backgrounds first and then printed the images after they dried. To begin, I printed the images on printer paper, four on a sheet, to get an idea of the image location on the page. I prepared the backgrounds on a sheet of watercolour paper, using a smooshing technique with Distress Inks: Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Brushed Corduroy, and Barn Door.  I added some ink splatters after they dried. After everything dried completely, I printed the images over the watercolour backgrounds. I love how they turned out!  You might remember a similar set of cards I made here.

Here is a close-up of each card individually:

Card #1

For Card #1, the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Thanks clear stamps. I used Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles dies to create the black frame.

Card #2

For Card #2, the sentiment is from Clearly Besotted Many Messages clear stamps. Again I used Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles dies to create the black frame.

Card #3

For Card #3, the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp Happy clear stamps, and I die cut the image with Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die and added two tiny gems in each corner.  With this card, I am joining the birthday challenge that Mervi is having over on her blog: Mervi's Candy and Challenge 2015. 

I would also like to join the following challenges: Beccy's Place September AG UE; Cards in Envy Colours of Fall 2/3; Choux Choux Paper Art Halloween or Fall UE; Connie Can Crop Colour Inspiration 2/2; Crafting from the Heart AG 2/3; Crafty Girls Creations AG 1/3; Creative Card Crew Fall 2/3; Deep Ocean Autumn UE; Di's Digi Designs Fabulous Fall Colours 3/3; Dies R Us Hot Colours 1/3; DL.ART Thankful Thursday Fall Alt. Thank You 1/3; DL.ART September Linky AG 1/day; Fan-Tastic Tuesday Colour me Autumn 2/4; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Left of Center Make Your Own Background/No DP UE; Little Claire's Autumnal 3/3; Not Just Cards AG UE; Our Crafty Corner Fall Colours 2/3; Pile it On Fall Colour Combo UE; Scrapbook Blessings Club AG optional Favourite Technique (watercolour) UE; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday No Designer Paper 1/5; Sweet Stamps AG UE; The Outlawz Twisted Saturday PAM Autumn 1E; The Paper Girls Sweater Weather (fall) 1/3; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 2/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Pumpkin Patch Girl

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm sharing a card I made to join the From the Heart Stamps - Stamp of the Month challenge.  The sweet image for September is Pumpkin Patch Girl.  I coloured her with Prismacolor pencils and added dots to her dress with a white gel pen.

I stamped a Lawn Fawn speech bubble sentiment from their Chit Chat clear stamps set.  I added some glittery orange washi tape, a thin black snippet, and another strip of washi tape that I trimmed to make thinner.  A few sequins finished off the card.

I would like to join the following challenges: 613 Avenue Create AG or Women's Friendship Day 1/3; Allsorts Sparkle (glittery washi tape) 1/3; Beccy's Place September AG UE; Cards in Envy Colours of Fall 1/3; Choux Choux Paper Art Halloween or Fall UE; Craft Your Passion Always AG 3/3; Craftin' Desert Divas Favourite Colour Combo (orange and teal for fall cards) UE; Creative Card Crew Fall 1/3; Deep Ocean Autumn UE; Diddybag AG 1E: Di's Digi Designs Fabulous Fall Colours 2/3; Digi Stamps 4 Joy AG Twist Girly 1/3; DL.ART September Linky AG 1/day; Fan-Tastic Tuesday Colour me Autumn 1/4; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Lauralcraft Dragonfly Dreams Girly UE; Little Claire's Autumnal 2/3; Love to Scrap AG 3/3; Mod Squad Use Glitter (see washi tape); Not Just Cards AG UE; Scrapbook Blessings Club AG optional Favourite Technique (pencil colouring) UE; Send a Smile 4 Kids Fall Colours 4 Kids 1/3; Sweet Stamps AG UE; The Outlawz Twisted Thursday Fall 1/2; Tuesday Throwdown Colour Inspiration 1/3; Wags n Whiskers Glitter/Sparkle (glittery washi tape) 1/2; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 1/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Haunted House

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm sharing a card I made with a fun Haunted House image from Dragonsmoore: Spyder's Other Corner.   I won some images a couple weeks ago - thank you, Lyn! - and have been chomping at the bit to get inky with this one! Hope you all don't find this one too scary!  I think it's so fun and spooky!

First I masked the ghosts and grave markers to keep them white and then I blended Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and Black Soot Distress Inks to give this a spooky look.  I splashed a few water droplets to add texture. I die-cut an oval from black cardstock using Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Ovals Stackables to layer on top of the image. I used the negative die-cut, which isn't stitched, so I doodled stitching around the oval with a white gel pen.

I stamped the Haunted House arrow (wood-mounted rubber stamp from Studio G) and tiny clouds (Flonz clear stamp) on vellum and fussy-cut.

My card also fits perfectly with the new challenge over at Choux Choux Paper Art. The theme of Lori's first challenge is Halloween/Fall!  I'm a big fan of Lori's blog so I hope you'll hop over and check it out!

I would like to join the following challenges: Beccy's Place September AG UE; Choux Choux Paper Art Halloween or Fall UE; Craft Your Passion Always AG 2/3; Craftin' Desert Divas Favourite Colour Combo (Black and Orange for Halloween cards) UE (TOP 3); Crafty Girlz AG 2/3; DL.ART September Linky AG 1/day; Get Creative Fantasy UE; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Left of Center Make Your Own Background/No DP UE; Love to Scrap AG 2/3; One Sweet Challenge Halloween or Purple, Green, Orange and Black 3/3; Not Just Cards AG UE; Scrapbook Blessings Club AG optional Favourite Technique (inky background) UE; Sweet Stamps AG UE; The House That Stamps Built Repeat Impressions WIW Photo Inspiration Challenge ~ S1615 UE (I was inspired by the dark colours, shapes, and lighted area); Whimsy Stamps AG or Halloween 3/3

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Make a Wish

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm sharing a birthday shaker card featuring an adorable image from Gerda Steiner Designs called Just Flying By - Lil' Kitten with Balloon. Actually, I used two of this image, and I coloured them with Prismacolor pencils and fussy-cut.

I wanted to make a card from two of my kitties. Since one cat is quite a bit bigger than the other, I asked Gerda if I could make the second cat wider by stretching the image and also flipping it so the cats were facing opposite directions. She said yes! Thank you, Gerda! I ended up using the same balloon for both, which I covered in Clear Wink of Stella and then added Glossy Accents, but you can't really see the effect in the photos.

For the shaker background, I sponged Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks and splashed some water droplets for texture.  The shaker window was die cut with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles, and I stamped the sentiment from Avery Elle Cake and Candles. For the shaker, I added all kinds of sequins and bits. There are two silver "Happy Birthdays" in there, and I even used some tiny nail-art stars that I received from Monika - thank you, Monika, I knew these would be perfect for a shaker card! To finish off the card, I die-cut a Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Border in black and added it along the top.

My card is purr-fect for the birthday challenge that Mervi is having over on her blog: Mervi's Candy and Challenge 2015.  Her challenge just started today!  

I would also like to join the following challenges: Beccy's Place September AG UE; Blog Quick Quotes AG 1E; CRAFT Add Some Bling (sequins) 3/5; Craft Your Passion Always AG 1/3; Crafting from the Heart AG 1/3; Crafty Catz Special Occasion (birthday) 1/3; Crafty Creations It Takes Two 1/2; Crafty Girlz AG 3/3; DL.ART September Linky AG 1/day; Gerda Steiner Designs Share Your Work UE; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Left of Center Make Your Own Background/No DP UE; Lil Patch of Crafty Friends AG 3/3; Love to Scrap AG 1/3; Not Just Cards AG UE; Pixie's Snippet Playground Die-cut shaker window and border strip are snippets 3/3; Scrapbook Blessings Club AG optional Favourite Technique (inky background, pencil colouring, shaker card) UE; Seize the Birthday AG Birthday 1/3; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Die Crazy 5/5; Sweet Stamps AG UE; The Outlawz Sunday CAS AG 1E; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 5/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Halloween Kitty Window

For my Quirky Crafts GD post, click here.  

For my Glitter n Sparkle DT post, click here.

Hi, everybody!  I'm back again today with another card to share.  I don't think I slept at all last night, so instead of staring at the ceiling, I got lots of crafting done!

Before I share my card, I would like to welcome my newest follower - Karen Petitt - thank you for joining me!  Karen is looking for followers and has a lovely candy if you'd like to go check out her blog!

So as usual, I've been inspired by some fun challenges!  First there's the Gecko Galz Tricks or Treats Challenge.  The fun Halloween image on my card is from Gecko Galz - October Treats Collage Sheet.  I love all of the Halloween imagery in this image!  This is just one of the images - there are 8 more on the Collage Sheet!

There's another fun challenge going on that I would like to tell you about.  Melissa at Created by Sunshine Honeybee is having a Halloween challenge that just started yesterday, and she would like to see a carved pumpkin on your creation. She's has a cool spider-web stencil prize, so head over and check out her challenge! You have until October 5 to play along!

My card also fits perfectly with the new challenge over at Choux Choux Paper Art. The theme of Lori's first challenge is Halloween/Fall!  I'm a big fan of Lori's blog so I hope you'll hop over and check it out!

Getting back to my card, I embossed some black cardstock with Tim Holtz/Sizzix Cobwebs.  I added a strip of Halloween paper that was this month's freebie over at Crafty Secrets (thank you!) - I'll be joining their linky as well.  I also added a slim strip of glittery black washi tape, but it's hard to see in the photo.  The sentiment was made with tiny alphabet stickers, and I added a die-cut spider, which I coated with Glossy Accents.  I die-cut a second spider in white and layered them so he could be seen against the black background. 

I would also like to join these fun challenges: Beccy's Place September AG UE; Choux Choux Paper Art Halloween or Fall UE; Craftin' Desert Divas Favourite Colour Combo (Black and Orange for Halloween cards) UE; Hiding in My Craftroom Freestyle 3/3; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Left of Center Make Your Own Background/No DP or LOC Theme UE; Not Just Cards AG UE

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

GD Quirky Crafts - Quirky Animal Magic

Hello, everyone!  I'm back again today with some inspiration for the challenge at Quirky Crafts Challenge Blog. I'm a guest designer for this fortnight's challenge, which is Quirky Animal Magic. I hope you'll play along! For my card, I chose the adorable Strawberry Mouse by Karen Middleton at Sweet Pea Stamps.  I coloured this little cutie with Prismacolor pencils and fussy-cut so I could pop him up with foam tape.

I made a fun background with some angled panels.  I started by stamping a leaf cluster from Clearly Besotted Leafy Accents clear stamps with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink.  Then I did some ink blending with the same Distress Ink.  I layered red, green, and black cardstock strips (snippets) and some strawberry patterned paper strips (freebie from Cajoline Scrap, thank you!).  I die-cut the Lawn Fawn Scripty Thanks in red and added some punny words with my Dymo label maker.  I added a strawberry charm from my stash, tied with baker's twine from DL.ART (I won this, thank you, Diana!), and finished off the card with a number of white sequins.

Thank you to Cazzy and the Quirky Crafts Challenges Design Team for having me as your guest designer!  It was my pleasure! 

I would also like to join the following challenges: Beccy's Place September AG UE; CRAFT Add Some Bling 2/5; Crafty Girlz AG 2/3; Creative Fingers AG 3/3; Cosmic Colours Colour Inspiration (see graphic below) UE (WINNER CHOSEN BY COLETTE); Crop Stop Linky Party #8 Distress Ink sold at Crop Stop 5/5; Cupcake Inspirations Colour Inspiration (see graphic below) 1/3 (SWEET SIX AWARD); Die Cuttin Divas Fun with Puns 1/3; DL.ART Thankful Thursday Coffee/Tea/Beverage Alt. Thank You 3/3; Fan-Tastic Tuesday Bright and Colourful 1/4; Hiding in My Craftroom Freestyle 2/3; Inspiration Destination AG UE; Lil Patch of Crafty Friends AG 2/3; Natalie and Amy's Charming 3/3; Not Just Cards AG UE; Papertake Weekly Animal Magic 5/5; Penny's Paper-Crafty Use a Bow or Christmas 2/3; Pixie's Snippet Playground  All cardstock and patterned paper are snippets 2/3; Scrapbook Blessings Club AG optional Favourite Technique (inky background) UE; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Die Crazy 4/5; Tuesday Throwdown For a Child 3/3; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 4/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!